Where the hell have you been?

You might ask “Where the hell have you been?”

My answer would be, lots of places. 

The Tampa Bay Bridge- I rode this one twice thanks to a wrong turn. Didn't really mind.

First let me apologize for not posting during the week of the trip.  I had these grand plans to post at least once a day with pictures.  I would also do videos and picture albums.  And then I found myself on the trip of a lifetime and I just couldn’t look away.

Still, I should not have just dropped off the face of the earth during the very week of the trip.  I WILL do a day by day rundown.  I WILL talk about the things I’ve seen.  There are lots of pictures, some with stories and some that don’t need them. 

First a quick status update.  I am currently sitting the Animal Kingdom Lodge (Disney World) with my family. Three days ago, my son and I rode the last 90 miles of the ride together.  We went from Key Largo to Key West.  The trip was a pretty grueling 3 hours.  Stop and go riding in the blazing Florida sunshine.  I full gear and a helmet, that kid did every mile and didn’t bitch (or even ask to stop) one time.  We spent last night in Key West.  It does not replace Galveston as my favorite coastal town (you understand, first loves and all) but it was the kind of place that I could become very comfortable.  More on that in a later post.

Now for some stats:

• 8  consecutive day of over 8 hours of riding each day
• 2 days of 13+ hours-a-day riding
• 4 nights camping in state parks with 3 of the nights back to back
• Over 2300 miles travelled
• I would estimate that I travelled at least 80% of the coastal roads on the US Gulf Coast.
• I only lost one item (my good flashlight)
• No fish caught (to many of you, this will not be a surprise at all)
• One blog post
• Countless phone problems
• 0 accidents
• 0 injuries
• 23384 bites from various species of carnivorous insects (chiggers are a tool of the dark one himself)
• Dozens of pictures
• Dozens of blog ideas
• 1 changed individual

On day 3, my mom asked, “Was it everything you thought it would be?”.

I quickly answered “Yes” but I couldn’t stop thinking about the question. I wonder if she knew what she was asking.  It was all of the good things I thought it would be but it demanded more of me than I had even dreamed it would.  In fact, had I known the hours involved and the sheer intensity of every moment, I might not have taken the trip.  I would have considered it untenable with my current lifestyle.  It would have been the biggest mistake of my life.

The real answer to my Mom’s question should have been “Yes, and it was so much more than I had planned.”

The unpacking begins with next post.